EX-MEMBER FILES LAWSUIT : SONS OF THE PIONEERS MAY LOSE NAME

It looks like no more “Happy Trails” for the Sons of the Pioneers, America’s foremost Western singing group.

Vincent (Rusty) Richards, a 20-year veteran of the Sons of the Pioneers, has filed a $1-million lawsuit in Ventura County Superior Court that seeks to bar other members of the group from using the Pioneers name in future performances.

Richards, 52, who lives in Modjeska Canyon, claims in the suit that he was forced out of the group, which was founded in 1932 by Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer and Roy Rogers. The suit also alleges that Richards has not received his share of the profits from a 50th anniversary Sons of the Pioneers album, entitled “Celebration,” released in 1982 by Pioneer Records of Dana Point.

The other group members named in the suit are Dale H. Warren of Woodland Park, Colo.; Roy Lanham of Camarillo, Calif., and Luther Nallie of Beaumont, Tex.

Warren, who joined the Pioneers in 1952 and is the group’s senior member, could not be reached for comment.

Reached Thursday at his home, Nallie, who joined the Pioneers in 1968, said, “We’ve been out on the road and we weren’t aware of it, so I can’t comment on it.”

Marianne Lanham, Roy Lanham’s wife, said Thursday that they had learned about the suit from a report in a local newspaper. “It’s utterly ridiculous,” she said. “We think the world of Rusty and his wife, that’s what made this such a shock.”

Richards’ suit claims that the four had an oral agreement to share equally the earnings of the group, with a commission to be paid Arthur O.E. Parker, who has managed the group since 1982.

The suit alleges that in January, 1984, Richards received a letter informing him that he was out of the group and that Thomas Nallie and Jack Nallie (Luther Nallie’s brothers) of Beaumont, Tex., and Sonny Spencer (who is no relation to Pioneers founding member Tim Spencer) of Las Vegas were joining the Sons of the Pioneers, which Richards had joined in 1963.

Richards’ complaint further states that in August, 1984, he incorporated the name “Sons of the Pioneers” and that he wants the defendants restrained from using it.

The suit asks for a temporary restraining order preventing the other members from using the name, $1 million in punitive damages as well as preliminary and permanent injunctions against the group.

Reached at his home Thursday, Richards, who joined the Pioneers in 1963, said his primary reason for filing the suit stemmed from disagreements he had over Parker’s management of the group. Richards recently released a solo album entitled “The American Cowboy” on his own Young Oak Records label.